A/N: This is my first RWBY story. So the first chapter is short, just testing the waters and all. Enjoy! :)
Chapter One - Setting Out
It seemed simple enough. Head out, get the scroll, return to Beacon. Even Weiss Schnee felt confident as she headed out with her partner, Ruby Rose, on one of their infrequent missions without the other members of team RWBY – Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long. They didn't even bring Zwei along.
But now, as night crept overhead and the two huddled in their small camp in Forever Fall, Weiss felt a tad uncertain. She couldn't help thinking about the missing Huntsman, who had been in contact with the Professors at Beacon when he dropped his scroll in the middle of battle. What became of him, the professors hoped to get to the bottom of it.
Ruby nudged the food over the fire, the light of it crackling in her silver eyes. She was strangely quiet, and Weiss knew that Ruby too was thinking of the Huntsman.
"What do you think happened to him?" Weiss asked, saying what they were both thinking aloud. There were a few ideas, but Ruby just shrugged.
"Hopefully nothing, and he just dropped his scroll," she replied, giving the food one more store and saying to Weiss, "Food's ready!". Weiss gratefully accepted a helping and the two ate in silence for a few minutes, glad for the distraction.
Their weapons sat in arms reach of the two. There was no sight or sound of any Grimm nearby, so the two remained cautious but not worried of a potential fight. They had each other, after all, to take down the awful monsters, though both hoped tonight would be free of a fight.
Smacking her lips loudly, Ruby discarded her empty plate on the ground nearby and took up Crescent Rose in her hands, giving Weiss a bright grin. "I'll take the first watch!" she declared, stroking Crescent Rose fondly. Weiss just shook her head, smiling a bit.
"Ok, your call," she agreed, finishing her dinner and putting her plate on top of Ruby's. Yawning, Weiss stretched out on her sleeping bag, putting her hands behind her head as she gazed up at the dark red foliage of the trees. Forever Fall really was beautiful, even at night. It wasn't a bad place to make the first night of camp.
Ruby stood, dusting leaves and crumbs off her skirt and went to lean against one of the trees, squinting into the darkness. Luckily, no eyes blinked back at her and no growls sound out of the darkness, so she kept Crescent Rose holstered. It would take but a second to have her out. She glanced toward Weiss, who was snuggling under her sleeping bag with a contented sigh.
"We'll make good ground tomorrow if no Grimm attack," Weiss yawned matter-of-factly, opening her eyes to see Ruby staring at her. "What?" she almost snapped but caught herself just in time. Ruby was just looking, there was no harm in that…. Yet Weiss felt her cheeks and hands heat up just a bit. She broke the gaze.
Ruby looked down at Crescent Rose, running her hand over her weapon again. It was almost calming, and Ruby couldn't help wanting just a little bit for a good old fashioned Beowolf to appear so she could launch into battle. She looked up at the leaves in the overhanging foliage and closed her eyes. Tomorrow, she thought nodding once. There will be plenty of time for battle tomorrow.
Weiss, meanwhile, had rolled over in her sleeping bag, getting comfortable. She was fully aware of her back to Ruby, but she was also facing away from the fire so Weiss didn't have a light shining in her eyes. Her cheeks still burned from Ruby's gaze, and Weiss took a slow, deep breath, so as to not arouse suspicion from Ruby but to also calm herself down.
It had been like that a lot lately. Weiss would catch Ruby staring at her, and she would look away first, too afraid to say anything. Ruby never did. It was probably nothing. Weiss pursed her lip. That's right… It had to be nothing.
Yawning again, Weiss settled down, closing her eyes. "Night Ruby," she called out, now feeling exhausted, and it didn't take her long to fall into a light sleep.
Ruby stayed awake for six hours, keeping watch and tending to the fire. She also made sure her partner was alright. Weiss hardly stirred, and only moved once to scratch her temple. Ruby held her breath, waiting to see if Weiss woke up, but the renowned Ice Queen just fell into an even deeper sleep.
Sitting against the tree, Ruby checked her scroll to see what time it was. About an hour before she had to wake up Weiss and swap the watch. Ruby sighed, checking around the darkness once again before turning the sound all the way down on her scroll, opening up a game. She saw Yang was online, which came as no surprise – Blake had been spending many late nights in the library recently and Yang kept her company, though she always ended up getting bored and playing a game.
Ruby invited her to a game and played for the rest of her watch, making sure to look up every now and then to look around. When an hour had passed, Ruby stifled a much needed yawn and closed her scroll, tiptoeing over to Weiss and giving her a shake.
"Huh… what…" Weiss mumbled, rolling onto her back and rubbing her eyes. "Ah… my watch already?" Ruby was about to reply when she was overcome with another yawn she couldn't hide, and Weiss smiled.
"Ok, Ruby, you sleep. I got this one until dawn," Weiss said, slipping out of the sleeping bag and picking up Myternaster, her rapier. Petals scattered slightly as Ruby hurried into the sleeping bag, Crescent Rose in there with her. She barely heard Weiss, who couldn't help giving a small laugh, as she yawned and made herself more comfortable.
Ruby was already snoring when Weiss knelt beside her, wondering how Ruby could fall asleep so quickly when they were out on a mission like this. Weiss glanced up into the darkness beyond the light of their fire, thankfully seeing no eyes blinking back at her. She looked back at Ruby.
"Goodnight, Ruby," she said again and, gripping the hilt of her weapon, stood to sit against the tree for her watch.